'I truly believed I'd be able to get there'

Cabrera grew up in Townsville before moving to Brisbane to train at the National Academy.

Her parents, who are from the Philippines, are both working in an abattoir to support her dream.

Cabrera clawed her way up more than 800 places in the rankings in just 12 months.

"I set a goal in January last year to be at the Australian Open this year and I was ranked 1,062 and I think a lot of people were kind of like, 'You know, that's a bit ambitious'," she said.

"But you know, I truly believed that I'd be able to get there."

Her ambition did not stop at just getting a wildcard. Cabrera wants to win at least one round.

"Anyone's beatable really, if you have the right attitude and you execute on the day," she said.

"I'm definitely not satisfied with just playing, I actually want to win a round."

'She loves the attention'

The talk of the tournament has been another wildcard entry, Aiava.

Her mum and coach Rosie Aiava said Destanee was lapping up the limelight.

"I think she loves the whole attention, it's all about me," she said.

"I'm enjoying it as well because she's loving it, but my job is to make sure that she has that little bit of fun and we'll keep her grounded and get back into the hard work again."

Pratt said that was important, as many promising young players get overwhelmed by early success and never make it any further.

"All of a sudden there's media attention, the people around her can start to think, 'Oh well she's made it, she's there.' And that is so far from the truth — there is a long, long way to go," she said.

"So for both Destanee and Lizette I think it's really important the people around them keep things in perspective, each and every day just work on getting their games better and the results tend to take care of themselves."

In her resignation from politics, Kelly O'Dwyer said she feared another miscarriage in Canberra, far from home. Her announcement is shocking for more than just party-political reasons, writes Emma A. Jane.